Friday, July 18. 2008

The LEHM 2008, the 5th international trade fair and conference on building with earth, will take place from 9th-12th October 2008 in Koblenz on the Rhine in Germany. Organised by the Dachverband Lehm e.V., the German Association for Building with Earth, the conference takes place every four years in a different earth building region in Germany and, in addition to the conference, includes a trade fair and field trips to modern as well as traditional earth buildings in the region.

Aimed at practitioners and manufacturers, students and educators, architects and academics as well as all who are interested in the potential of earth as a sustainable building material, the LEHM 2008 conference and trade fair offers an opportunity to see, discuss and keep up with innovative developments in the field.

The conference will take place in the historic Ehrenbreitstein Fortress in Koblenz, which overlooks the junction of the rivers Rhine and Mosel, and is organised in cooperation with the Landesmuseum Koblenz and the Koblenz Chamber of Crafts.

All who are interested are advised to register early as the capacity of the historic building is limited. Participants can register directly online from the website or alternatively download a PDF file to print out and fax.

Friday, July 4. 2008

Situated in Central Anatolia, Hattuša remained the capital city of the Hittites from 1650/1600 to around 1200 BC. Here, as recently as 2003 to 2005, the German Archaeological Institute has rebuilt one stretch of the mudbrick city wall. The scope of this project in experimental archaeology has been to recreate a part of the wall using the same materials the Hittites had at hand when they built their original walls so long ago. Each step necessary for the construction was fully documented so as to enable us to assess not only the amount of building materials required but also the manpower and time the Hittites must have invested in the various tasks of construction.

This volume presents the results gleaned from this documentation. From the production of the first mudbrick to the dedication of the finished structure, each and every undertaking has been described in detail and is presented here accompanied by 573 illustrations.

Synopsis
Currently it is estimated that one half of the world's population—approximately three billion people on six continents—lives or works in buildings constructed of earth. And while the vast legacy of traditional and vernacular earthen construction has been widely discussed, little attention has been paid to the contemporary tradition of earth architecture. Author Ronald Rael, founder of Eartharchitecture.org provides a history of building with earth in the modern era, focusing particularly on projects constructed in the last few decades that use rammed earth, mud brick, compressed earth, cob, and several other interesting techniques. EARTH ARCHITECTURE presents a selection of more than 40 projects that exemplify new, creative uses of the oldest building material on the planet.

An engaging narrative addresses the misconceptions associated with earth architecture. Many assume that it's only used for housing in poor rural areas—but there are examples of airports, embassies, hospitals, museums, and factories that are made of earth. It's also assumed that earth is a fragile, ephemeral material, while in reality some of the oldest extant buildings on the planet are made of earth. The book also touches on many topics that pervade both architecture and popular media today, such as the ecological benefits and the politics of building with earth, particularly in developing nations where earth buildings are often thought of as pre-modern or backward. With captivating discussion and more than 300 images, Earth Architecture showcases the beauty and simplicity of one of humankind's most evolved and sophisticated building technologies.

About the Author
Ronald Rael is an Architect, Author and Assistant Professor of Architecture at The University of California, Berkeley. He is the founder of EarthArchitecture.org, a clearing house of information on the subject.

EARTH ARCHITECTURE — THE WEBSITE
Dirt—as in clay, gravel, sand, silt, soil, loam, mud—is everywhere. The ground we walk on and grow crops in also just happens to be the most widely used building material on the planet. Civilizations throughout time have used it to create stable, warm, low-impact structures. The world's first skyscrapers were built of mud brick. Paul Revere, Saddam Hussein, Chairman Mao, and Ronald Reagan all lived in earth houses at various points in their lives, and several of the buildings housing Donald Judd's priceless collection in Marfa, Texas, are made of mud brick. The Earth Architecture website focuses on architecture constructed of mud brick (adobe), rammed earth (pisé), cob, compressed earth block or other methods of earthen construction and serves as a database for the discussion and dissemination of events, resources, and images of earth architecture in the context of contemporary architecture culture.